Automatic and transparent document archiving

ABSTRACT

An automatic archiving system that makes document archiving largely transparent to the user. In one embodiment, documents scanned in or printed during the course of office equipment operation are automatically archived. For example, an office local area network (LAN) may interconnect a copier, a printer, a fax machine, and a document management workstation. Whenever, a document is copied, printed, or faxed, a document image is archived by the document management workstation without further user intervention. A single user command results in the document being copied and archived, printed and archived, or faxed and archived.

STATEMENT OF RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] The present application is related to the subject matter of theapplication titled, “DOCUMENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM” co-assigned with thepresent application and filed on the same day. The contents of the“DOCUMENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM” application are herein incorporated byreference for all purposes.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] The present invention relates to a document management system andmore particularly to providing automatic archiving to standard officeequipment.

[0003] With the rapid development of storage system technology, the costof storing an image of a sheet of paper on digital media has become lessthan the cost of printing and storing the sheet of paper itself. Digitaldocument storage also facilitates later electronic search and retrievaland raises the possibility of automatic filing of documents.

[0004] Until now, systematic digital document storage has required userdiscipline to scan in each and every document for the express purpose ofarchiving. Work has been done to make stand-alone scanners lessexpensive, easier to use, and more compact. However, the user muststill 1) remember that a document should be scanned, 2) locate ascanner, 3) bring the document to the scanner, and 4) operate thescanner. However, scanning occurs constantly in the office environmentin the contexts of copying and faxing.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0005] The present invention provides an automatic archiving system thatmakes document archiving largely transparent to the user. In oneembodiment, documents scanned in or printed during the course of officeequipment operation are automatically archived. For example, an officelocal area network (LAN) may interconnect a copier, a printer, afacsimile machine, and a document management workstation. Whenever, adocument is copied, printed, or faxed, a document image is archived bythe document management workstation without further user intervention. Asingle user command results in the document being copied and archived,printed and archived, or faxed and archived.

[0006] In accordance with a first aspect of the invention, a method forprocessing document images includes steps of receiving a single userinput command and performing certain steps in response to the singleuser input command. The steps include scanning a document image tocollect image data, printing the document image based on the image data,and sending the image data to an archiving system for storage.

[0007] In accordance with a second aspect of the invention, a method forprinting and archiving documents includes steps of receiving a singleuser command requesting that a document be printed, printing thedocument in response to the single user command, and archiving imagedata representing the document in response to the single user command.

[0008] In accordance with a third aspect of the invention, a method forarchiving documents to be faxed includes steps of receiving a singleuser command indicating that a document is to be faxed, scanning thedocument to be faxed in response to the single user command,transmitting first image data representing the document as scanned to aremote location via a public telephone network, and archiving, inresponse to the single user command, second image data representing thedocument as scanned in the scanning step.

[0009] In accordance with a fourth aspect of the invention, a computerinstallation includes a digital copier that scans in documents to becopied, a printer that prints documents, a computer system controlling along-term storage medium, and a network interconnecting the digitalcopier, the printer, and the computer system. The digital copier relaysimage data representing the documents to be copied to the computersystem for storage on the long-term storage medium. The printer, or aprinter server controlling the printer, or a computer system initiatinga command to print relays image data representing printed documents tothe computer system for storage on the long-term storage medium.

[0010] In accordance with a fifth aspect of the invention, a digitalcopier includes a scanner that generates image data representing adocument to be copied, an image processing unit that processes the imagedata to correct imaging errors introduced by the scan engine, a printerthat copies the document responsive to the image data as processed bythe image processing unit, and an image data tap that relays the imagedata to a storage system for archiving.

[0011] A further understanding of the nature and advantages of theinventions herein may be realized by reference to the remaining portionsof the specification and the attached drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0012]FIG. 1 depicts an office machine network implementing automaticdocument archiving in accordance with one embodiment of the presentinvention.

[0013]FIG. 2 depicts a portion of a copier control interface.

[0014]FIG. 3 depicts a top-level diagram of a digital copierimplementing automatic document archiving in accordance with oneembodiment of the present invention.

[0015]FIG. 4 depicts alternative signals usable for extractinghorizontal synchronization data from a digital copier in accordance withone embodiment of the present invention.

[0016]FIG. 5 depicts a printer interface.

[0017]FIG. 6 depicts a facsimile machine interface.

[0018]FIG. 7 depicts a facsimile machine modified for automaticarchiving in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.

[0019]FIG. 8 depicts a computer system usable for implementing elementsof the present invention.

[0020]FIG. 9 depicts a software architecture for operating a documentimage database in accordance with one embodiment of the presentinvention.

DESCRIPTION OF SPECIFIC EMBODIMENTS

[0021] Overall Architecture For Automatic Archiving

[0022]FIG. 1 depicts an office machine network implementing automaticdocument archiving in accordance with one embodiment of the presentinvention. A network 100 may be implemented in any way, e.g., anEthernet. Network 100 interconnects a representative client system 102,a print server 104, a special digital copier 106, a document managementworkstation 108, and a special facsimile machine 110. Print server 104controls printing on a representative printer 112 at the request ofclient system 102 and relays document image data characterizing todocument management workstation 108 for archiving. Digital copier 106copies documents and transmits image data obtained during the course ofcopying to document management workstation 108 for archiving. Similarly,facsimile machine 110 captures image data during the course of sendingand receiving documents and transmits the image data to documentmanagement workstation 108 for archiving. Document managementworkstation 108 collects the document image data collected from all ofthe office equipment and maintains an archive on a disk storage unit114. Client system 102 may browse this archive.

[0023] The configuration of network 100 is of course onlyrepresentative. For example, automatic archiving of documents may beimplemented with only one or two types of office machine instead of thedepicted types. Also, functionality of one or more units shown in FIG. 1may be combined into the same unit or divided among many units.

[0024] Automatic Archiving of Copied Documents

[0025] In accordance with the present invention, digital copier 106transparently archives documents that are copied. FIG. 2 depicts asimplified representation of a portion of a copier control interface 200usable with digital copier 106. Copier control interface 200 includes anumeric keypad 202, an Enter key 204, and a Copy/Start key 206. Copiercontrol interface 200 may be implemented using, e.g., a touch pad, touchscreen, mechanical buttons, etc. Controls for paper size, copy darkness,copy contrast, paper size, and magnification/reduction ratio are notimportant to the present invention and are thus omitted.

[0026] In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention,activation of Copy/Start key 206 is sufficient to initiate both copyingof a document and archiving of an image of the document. The userpositions the document, e.g., in a document feeder (not shown), and thenenters a personal access code on numeric keypad 202 finishing accesscode entry by depressing Enter key 204. Depressing Copy/Start key 206represents a single user command that is interpreted by digital copier106 to request both copying and archiving. Thus by copying, the userachieves both copying and archiving. In one embodiment, the user mayenter a lock-out code to inhibit archiving, for instance, forprivacy-protection purposes.

[0027] Details of the hardware for the copying and archiving processeswill be made clearer with reference to FIGS. 3-5.

[0028]FIG. 3 depicts a top-level diagram of digital copier 106implementing automatic document archiving in accordance with oneembodiment of the present invention. Digital copier 106 includes ascanner engine 302, a print engine 304, a controller 306, a touch screen308, and an internal disk storage unit 310. Controller 306 includes aDRAM unit 312, an LZ image compressor 314, a CPU 316, an IDE controller318, a SCSI controller 320, and a network interface 321. A bus 323interconnects the controller elements. Scanner engine 302 includes ascanner 302A and an image processing unit 302B. A video bus 324interconnects scanner engine 302 and print engine 304. An image data tap326 provides controller 306 with access to image data transferred overvideo bus 324. Controller 306 also takes advantage of an HSYNC signal406 and a VSYNC signal 410 generated within print engine 304.

[0029] Digital copier 106 accepts a document 326 and prints a copy 328upon depression of Start/Copy key 206. Scanner 302A captures an image ofdocument 326 and transmits the image to image processing unit 328. Imageprocessing unit 328 operates to remove distortion inherent in thescanning process. The output of the image processing unit is preferablyin a format where 8 bits represent the grey-scale level of a pixel,there are 4380 active pixels per line, and there are 3380 active linesper frame or document page. There is a 10 pixel blanking period beforeand after each active line, making the total number of pixels per line,4400. Similarly, there is a 10 line blanking period before and afterevery frame, making the total number of lines in a frame 3400. Ofcourse, these parameters are only design choices.

[0030] This pixel data is forwarded from image processing unit 302B toprint engine 304 for printing. The data rate over video bus 324 ispreferably 20 MHz. Controller 306 monitors video bus 324 via image datatap 326 to receive the same pixel data. Although, it would be possibleto monitor the pixel data prior to image processing unit 302B, theadvantage to monitoring on video bus 324 is that image processing unit302B is tightly coupled to scanner 302 and can monitor and correct forerrors inherent in the scanning process.

[0031] Controller 306 performs overall control functions for digitalcopier 106 including the archiving functions. CPU 316, an Intel 80960 CFmicrocontroller, operates the control program for the operation ofdigital copier 106. Image data is often transferred into controller 306at a faster rate via image data tap 326 than the image data can bearchived. Accordingly, DRAM unit 312, preferably incorporating 8 to 72MB of DRAM, acts as a buffer for image data. This allows printing of thecopy to continue without interruption by the archiving process.

[0032] To save on storage space and facilitate faster data transferacross network 100, LZ image compressor 314 may compress the image dataprior to archiving in accordance with the Lempel-Ziv image compressionformat. Of course, any image compression format may be chosen inaccordance with the invention. With each block of image data to bearchived, controller 306 incorporates the user ID data received fromtouch screen 308.

[0033] The actual archiving of document images may occur either locallyor remotely. Controller 306 may maintain the archive on disk storageunit 310, in which case the image data will be transferred via IDEcontroller 318. The archive may also be maintained either internally orexternally on SCSI drives to which image data is transferred via SCSIcontroller 320. Note, that if the archive is maintained on disk storageunit 310, or a disk drive accessible via SCSI controller 320, digitalcopier 106 will absorb some or all of the functionality of documentmanagement workstation 108. If the archive is maintained on documentmanagement workstation 108, network interface 321 sends the image datathere via network interface 100 along with the user ID data for eachparticular document. Typically, LZ image compressor 314 is used inapplications where documents are archived locally as opposed toremotely.

[0034]FIG. 4 depicts signals transferred over video bus 324 and imagedata tap 326 in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.A pixel data line 327 carries the image data generated by imageprocessing unit 302B is in a format to drive a laser diode input port402 of print engine 304. Each pixel includes 8 bits.

[0035] Print engine 304 operates in accordance with well-known laserxerography principles and incorporates a laser diode that varies inillumination intensity responsive to the document image to be printed.The 8 bits input to laser diode input port 402 include 3 bits modulatingthe intensity of illumination of the laser diode and 5 bits modulatingthe width of illumination pulses. These pixels transfer over a pixeldata line 327 at a 20 MHz rate. In the preferred embodiment, the imagedata presented at laser diode input port 402 is directly relayed tocontroller 306 via image data tap 326.

[0036] The beam output of the laser diode passes through a system oflens and mirrors that generates the horizontal scanning action to sweepthe beam over a rotating xerographic drum, thereby recreating thedocument image as a charge pattern on the drum. Typically, the rotationof a polygonal mirror tracks the scanning action. To assure the highestquality of reproduction, printing requires careful synchronizationbetween the constituent parts of the scanner 302A, image processing unit302B and the Print Engine 304. This synchronization is signalled usingthe horizontal and vertical video synchronization signals, lines 404,406, 408, and 410. All of these signals are interrelated in terms ofsynchronization to the motion inherent in the rotating polygonal mirrorwhich provides faster scanning in the print engine, and in terms of thescanner 302A. In some embodiments, the timing may be sourced by theprint engine 304, and circuitry in image processing unit 302B isphase-locked to that timing. In an alternate embodiment, imageprocessing unit 302B may provide the master timing to the print engine304, which subsequently phase-locks or otherwise synchronizes itsmechanical motion to these source signals. This embodiment isillustrated in FIG. 4. Those skilled in the art will recognize thevarious trade-offs in product design originating from alternativeselections of the master reference timing sources used for generatingthe synchronization signals in the system of FIG. 4, without losing thegenerality of obtaining access to the video bus 324.

[0037] Horizontal synchronization signal (HSYNC) 406 for the image datamay be obtained from print engine 304 in many ways. One technique is toposition an optically sensitive sensor at a point within the opticalsystem where the scanning action of the beam may be monitored. A pulseis generated every time the beam reaches an extremity of the scan.Depending on the particular design of the optical system, this pulserate may be a harmonic or subharmonic of the actual horizontalsynchronization rate.

[0038] Another technique is to attach an optical encoder to the motorthat rotates the polygonal mirror. By monitoring the motor operation inthis, or some other way, horizontal synchronization signal 406 may bederived. It is also possible to derive horizontal synchronization signal406 from the control signal which drives the motor.

[0039] A vertical synchronization control 408 also incorporatesinformation about the scanning action of scanner 302A. To assure highquality reproduction, the movement of paper through print engine 304takes this vertical synchronization control information into account.Vertical synchronization signal 410 may be obtained from print engine304 in a variety of ways. One way is to tap off an internal signal thatgates a new sheet of paper to pass underneath the xerographic drum.

[0040] The horizontal and vertical synchronization signals 406 and 410are used to assure that only valid pixels are archived. Data indicatingthe number of lines on each page and the line length in pixels is alsoarchived with the pixels. Thus, when the document is retrieved forprinting later, printing of the document inherently takes advantage ofthe information present on vertical synchronization control 408 andhorizontal synchronization control 404, namely image position within apage, and more particularly, the size of paper printed upon.Furthermore, the document image has already been subject tosophisticated image processing by IPU 322. The final printed document istherefore a very high quality reproduction.

[0041] The present invention is however not restricted to capturingimage data for archiving at the output of an image processing systemsuch as IPU 322. Whether or not such an image processing system ispresent, image data for archiving may be captured at the output ofscanner 302A.

[0042] Automatic Archiving of Printed Documents

[0043]FIG. 5 depicts a simplified representation of a user interfacescreen 500 for operating a printer. A user interface screen such asscreen 500 is generally displayed by client system 102 whenever the userrequests printing of a document. A list 502 of options permits the userto select whether the full document is to be printed, only a specifiedrange of pages, or only text that has been highlighted using a pointingand selection device such as a mouse. If a range of pages is to bespecified, a field 504 is used to enter the range of page numbers. Afield 506 permits the user to specify a number of document copies to beprinted. A “current printer” field 508 identifies the printer that willbe used to print the document. Activation of a “Close” screen button 510dismisses user interface screen 500.

[0044] In the prior art, activation of a “Print” screen button 512causes a document to be printed. In accordance with one embodiment ofthe present invention, activation of “Print” button 512 represents asingle user command to both print and archive the document. Clientsystem 102 sends the document to be printed to print server 104 whichruns print spooling software for writing to printer 112. The printspooling software maintains a queue of print jobs to run. The documentmay be sent to print server 104 in any format, such as text, TIFF, GIF,postscript, etc. Printer 112 will typically accept postscript input butother printer configurations are also possible. If the format oftransmission by client system 102 is different from the format acceptedby printer 112, printer server 104 will also perform format conversion.

[0045] In accordance with the invention, each document handled by printspooling software is sent to document management workstation 108. Thedocument may be transmitted in either the format generated by clientsystem 102 or any format to which printer server 104 is able to convert.The document may be sent to document management workstation 108 withdata identifying the current user of client system 102. Thus, archivingbecomes an incidental consequence of the printing process. Previouslyprinted documents are retrievable.

[0046] Automatic Archiving of Faxed Documents

[0047]FIG. 6 depicts a simplified representation of a facsimile machineuser interface 600. A display screen 602 provides the user with prompts.A keypad 604 allows for entry of a telephone number to which a documentis to be faxed. Depression of a start button 606 causes a document to bescanned into a memory within a facsimile machine or, if a document hasalready been scanned into memory and a telephone number has beenentered, causes the document to be faxed to the entered telephonenumber. Depression of a stop button 608 causes faxing to cease. Inaccordance with the present invention, depression of start button 606 atthe appropriate time represents a single user command to both fax andarchive a document.

[0048]FIG. 7 depicts facsimile machine 110 modified for automaticarchiving in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.Facsimile machine 10 incorporates a scanner 702 for scanning a documentto be faxed and storing a binary pixel representation of the document ina memory (not shown) internal to scanner 702. A source coding unit 704compresses the gray scale pixel data in accordance with facsimiletransmission standard, e.g., Group III. A modem 706 modulates a carrierwith the compressed data output of source coding unit 704 in accordancewith the relevant facsimile transmission standard to generate amodulated signal to output on a telephone line 708.

[0049] In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, animage data tap 710 transmits the compressed data output of source codingunit to a network interface 712. Network interface 704 in turn sends thecompressed data output representing a document to document managementworkstation 108 for archiving. In alternative embodiment, image data tap710 is instead positioned at the output of scanner 702.

[0050] Optionally, the user enters a code number on keypad 604 toidentify himself or herself. This information is also sent to documentmanagement workstation 108 to be stored with the faxed document.Alternatively, the identity of the user of facsimile machine 110 isalready know in some other way.

[0051] Thus, every document that is faxed is also archived withoutfurther user input. This provides yet another source of document imagesfor the archive maintained by document management workstation 108.

[0052] Document Management Workstation

[0053]FIG. 8 depicts a computer system 810 usable for implementing anyone or more of client system 102, print server 104, or documentmanagement workstation 108 in accordance with one embodiment of thepresent invention. Computer system 810 includes bus 812 whichinterconnects major subsystems such as central processor 814, systemmemory 816, input/output (I/O) controller 818, external device such asdisplay screen 824 via display adapter 826, serial port 828, keyboard830, fixed disk drive 114 via a storage interface 832, a serial port834, a CD-ROM player 836, and a floppy-disk drive 838. A mouse 840 mayconnect to serial port 828. A network interface 842 for connection tonetwork 100 may connect to serial port 834. CD-ROM player 836 receives aCD-ROM disk 844. Floppy-disk drive 838 receives a floppy disk 846. Manyother devices or subsystems (not shown) may be connected in a similarmanner. Also, it is not necessary for all of the devices shown in FIG. 8to be present to practice the present invention, as discussed below. Thedevices and subsystems may be interconnected in different ways from thatshown in FIG. 8. The operation of a computer system such as that shownin FIG. 8 is readily known in the art and is not discussed in detail inthe present application. Source code to implement elements of thepresent invention may be operably disposed in system memory 814 orstored on storage media such as fixed disk 830, floppy disk 846, orCD-ROM 844.

[0054]FIG. 9 depicts a software architecture 900 for operating adocument image database in accordance with one embodiment of the presentinvention. Preferably, the software architecture operates on documentmanagement workstation 108. Documents to be archived are received by aCFI (conversion of formats and indexing) module 902 from any one ofdigital copier 106, print server 104, or facsimile machine 110. CFImodule 902 converts the format of the received document to a desiredformat for storage. CFI module 902 may, e.g., receive the data in the 8bit pixel format discussed in reference to digital copier 106 along withsynchronization information useful for high quality reproduction. Thesedesired formats include, e.g., postscript, 8 dpi GIFF, 72 dpi GIFF, 400dpi TIFF, and plain text. Converting from a graphic format to plain textincludes the process of optical character recognition. CFI module 902also applies an indexing system to the documents to be archived. Forplain text documents, the index information generated for the documentfacilitates later full text searching. If the identity of the user isavailable, this will also form a part of the indexing information forthe document to facilitate later retrieval by the user.

[0055] For each document to be archived, a separate HTML document isgenerated with an iconic form of the images (8 dpi GIF) to be archivedand keywords from a text document that is stored. One set of HTML indexpages is maintained for each user. Each HTML index page in the setprovides a different view of the images in a user's database. Forexample, one page provides a sequential listing of every saved image,including the document icons. Another page provides a sequential listingof all the documents which shows an ASCII summary of each image withoutshowing the icons. CFI module 902 performs the necessary conversions.

[0056] An encryption module 904 optionally encrypts the document to bearchived and its HTML counterpart with an encryption key particular tothe user. This way only the user and other authorized parties mayretrieve the encrypted document. The encrypted documents are stored ondisk storage unit 114.

[0057] An SRI module (search and retrieval interface) module 906provides access to the document archive maintained on disk storage unit114. Decryption system 908 is provided as an option for encrypteddocuments. SRI module 906 is implemented as an HTTP daemon operating ondocument management workstation 108. SRI module 906 is preferably theonly search and retrieval path to the document archive. This restrictedform of access allows log access information to be maintained. SRImodule 906 processes HTTP requests from client system 102 to browse HTMLdocuments on disk storage unit 114, or to search and retrieve thearchived documents. Full text search is implemented with a WAIS engineor other search engine (e.g., VERIFY, EXCALIBUR, FULCRUM) implementedwith SRI module 906. Queries are entered by the user in an HTML form andtransmitted to the search engine using a CGI script running in SRImodule 906. An initial user request should incorporate a password toauthorize decryption by decryption system 908.

[0058] To facilitate user interaction with SRI module 906, client system102 preferably runs a Java-capable world wide web browser such asNetscape Navigator obtainable from Netscape Communications of MountainView, Calif. Java programs may be downloaded from SRI module 906 toperform functions such as searching or display and printing ofparticular document formats.

[0059] Of course, the storage and retrieval architecture discussed aboveis only representative. The co-filed application “DOCUMENT MANAGEMENTSYSTEM” includes many other applications of an automatic archivingsystem.

[0060] In the foregoing specification, the invention has been describedwith reference to specific exemplary embodiments thereof. It will,however, be evident that various modifications and changes may be madethereunto without departing from the broader spirit and scope of theinvention as set forth in the appended claims. Many such changes ormodifications will be readily apparent to one of ordinary skill in theart. For example, digital copier 106 may also act as a printer forclient system 102. Also, the network 100 may include connections over aWAN or the Internet, allowing remote archiving and retrieval ofdocuments. The specification and drawings are, accordingly, to beregarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense, theinvention being limited only by the provided claims and their full scopeof equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for processing document imagescomprising the steps of: receiving a single user input command; andresponsive to said single user input command, performing the followingsteps: scanning a document image to collect image data; printing saiddocument image based on said image data; and sending said image data toan archiving system for storage.
 2. The method of claim 1 furthercomprising the step of: image processing said image data, wherein bothsaid printing step and said sending step operate on image processedimage data.
 3. The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of:image processing said image data, wherein said printing step operates onsaid image processed image data.
 4. The method of claim 1 furthercomprising the steps of: receiving user input data identifying a user;sending said user input data to said archiving system along with saidimage data.
 5. The method of claim 1 wherein said image data comprisessignals feeding a laser diode of a laser print engine wherein saidprinting step employs said laser print engine.
 6. The method of claim 1further comprising the step of: providing a user interface for browsingstored document images in said archiving system.
 7. Acomputer-implemented method for printing and archiving documentscomprising the steps of: receiving a single user command requesting thata document be printed; printing said document in response to said singleuser command; and archiving image data representing said document inresponse to said single user command.
 8. The method of claim 7 whereinsaid image data is Postscript data.
 9. The method of claim 7 whereinsaid image data is in TIFF format.
 10. The method of claim 7 whereinsaid image data is text data.
 11. The method of claim 7 furthercomprising the step of: providing a user interface for browsingpreviously archived documents.
 12. The method of claim 7 wherein saidarchiving step comprises encrypting said image data.
 13. A method forarchiving documents to be faxed comprising the steps of: receiving asingle user command indicating that a document is to be faxed; scanningsaid document to be faxed in response to said single user command;transmitting first image data representing said document as scanned viaa telephone line; and archiving, in response to said single usercommand, second image data representing said document as scanned in saidscanning step.
 14. The method of claim 13 wherein said first image dataand said second image data are substantially the same.
 15. The method ofclaim 13 wherein said first image data and said second image data aredifferent.
 16. The method of claim 13 further comprising the step of:providing a user interface for browsing previously archived documents.17. A computer installation comprising: a digital copier that scans indocuments to be copied; a printer that prints documents; a computersystem controlling a long-term storage medium; and a networkinterconnecting said digital copier, said printer, and said computersystem, wherein said digital copier relays image data representing saiddocuments to be copied to said computer system for storage on saidlong-term storage medium, and said printer relays image datarepresenting printed documents to said computer system for storage onsaid long-term storage medium.
 18. The computer installation of claim 17further comprising: a facsimile machine that scans in documents to befaxed to a remote location, said network also connecting to saidfacsimile machine, and said facsimile machine relaying image data offaxed documents to said computer system for storage on said long-termstorage medium.
 19. A digital copier comprising: a scanner thatgenerates image data representing a document to be copied; an imageprocessing unit that processes said image data to correct imaging errorsintroduced by said scanner; a printer that copies said documentresponsive to said image data as processed by said image processingunit; and an image data tap that relays said image data to a storagesystem for archiving.
 20. The digital copier of claim 19 comprising saidstorage system.
 21. The digital copier of claim 19 wherein said imagedata sent to said storage system has already been processed by saidimage processing unit.
 22. The digital copier of claim 19 wherein saidimage data includes a horizontal synchronization signal.
 23. The digitalcopier of claim 19 wherein said printer comprises a laser printingengine.
 24. The digital copier of claim 19 wherein said laser printercomprises a laser diode for generating an image signal, whereinillumination by said laser diode is controlled by said image data asrepresented by successive digital words, said digital words beingrelayed by said image data tap.
 25. The digital copier of claim 24wherein each of said digital words comprises at least one bit modulatingan intensity of illumination of said laser diode and at least one bitmodulating a pulse width of illumination of said laser diode.